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"Journalists," he said, shaking his head.

Lankov advised the Seoul government to bombard the media with images showing how the day to day lives of South Koreans have remained unaffected by North Korean threats, and how its residents remain unconcerned by the hostile rhetoric.

"Negative impact on South Korean tourism and the South Korean economy is exactly what North Korea wants," said Lankov, who is adamant in his belief that North Korea won't attack the South.

"[North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un is living a wonderful life that is better than any conglomerate owner's life in South Korea -- why would he want to cut that short?" said the North Korea expert.

"He is therefore the one person South Korea can truly depend on to not go to war," Lankov concluded.

Impact on South Korea tourism

It seems logical that tourism in Seoul, and all of South Korea, would suffer in the wake of the hostile rhetoric from the North Korean government. Seoul is located just 190 kilometers (118 miles) from Pyongyang, well within range of hundreds if not thousands of North Korean artillery and missile units.

However, no country has yet issued alerts or warnings concerning travel to South Korea.

"The Embassy has not changed its security posture and we have not recommended that U.S. citizens who reside in, or plan to visit, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) take special security precautions at this time," reads a statement posted on the U.S. Embassy in Seoul's website.

There's no denying, however, that some travelers are altering their plans.

"We had two colleagues in New York who decided to push back their business trip to Seoul because of the North Korea crisis," said Annie Kim, a Korean American risk manager at a multinational bank.

Kim, who arrived in Seoul two weeks ago on business, told CNN she doesn't believe the threats pose a danger.

Her colleagues, however, are getting more nervous about the situation with each news report.

"They say they will come only after it all blows over," she said.

Record month

Despite concerns, tourism numbers in South Korea are up. Way up.

Last week, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced a record number of visitors for the month of March.

For the first time in history, inbound international tourists numbered more than a million -- an 11.9% increase compared with the same month last year. Numbers for April won't be available until May.

"We've had record numbers from every country except Japan and Germany," KTO's Kang Sun-duk told CNN.

According to Kang, tourist numbers are impacted by geopolitics, but not necessarily those involving North Korea.

"Many of the Chinese tourists who would have been visiting Japan are now coming to South Korea due to the island disputes between China and Japan," said Kang.

"We are not afraid at all!" said a member of a group of tourists from Hebei, China, when asked why they'd decided to visit the DMZ in the midst of current reports. "There will be only peace here."

According to Professor Lankov, there's a reason Chinese tourists are unruffled by the threats from North Korea.

According to the North Korea expert, Chinese media isn't reporting on the situation in dire tones. He said Chinese reporters haven't adopted the posture of their Western counterparts, "like CNN and BBC, as if war is going to break out."

"The Chinese government doesn't allow them to portray their fellow communist country in that light," said Lankov.